LinkedIn for the Beginner Part 2

Yesterday we discussed how to get started on LinkedIn.  Now that you have created a profile on LinkedIn lets discuss how to begin using LinkedIn.  If you have not set up a profile yet refer to yesterday’s post on Getting Started with LinkedIn.

As I reviewed what I had written I determined it was more than one post so we now have a series of LinkedIn How To posts.  Check back for more.

1. Keep your Profile up to date.  Your job description and your skills are likely to change over time so be sure your Profile is accurate.  I recommend reading over your profile monthly.
2. Make a routine of adding your contacts. You can add contacts one by one by clicking on Contacts and then Add Contacts.  But I highly recommend inviting multiple contacts at one time to reduce your time spent on LinkedIn.
   1. SET A SCHEDULE! Determine how often you will upload contacts to LinkedIn.  Depending upon your need to develop relationships with individuals you have just met, I recommend either every 2 weeks or monthly.    How often you upload your contacts is dependent upon your need to get them into LinkedIn.   Uploading more often is obviously more time consuming but if you think having them in sooner rather than later is important then set a more rigorous connection schedule.
   2. SAVE TIME! If you have an address book, rather than adding new contacts one by one, access/upload your address book.  Check to see if any new contacts are LinkedIn users and send one mass request to your new contacts.  LinkedIn will connect to your web-based mail or you can upload an exported file from your desktop mail.
   3. PERSONALIZE! If your request to connect message does not seem appropriate for a particular contact, pull them from the mass request and send them a personalized email requesting a connection.
3. What if you don’t have an email address of the person with whom you want to connect?  
   1. SEARCH BY NAME.  Search in the People Search, top right corner.  If entering the name only provides too many results to comb through, use the Advance search to help you find the right person.  Without an email address LinkedIn will ask you to define how you know this person.  This is helpful to the person you are requesting contact from also.  If too many folks reject your request to connect then LinkedIn will remove this feature from your account.  
   2. FINDING PEOPLE.  If you need to find a contact at a particular company or you need an introduction to a particular individual, search the company name or the individual’s name in the search field in the top right corner.   Change the search to Company or People depending upon your particular search.  LinkedIn will provide you with potential matches and your connections to those matches.  
   3. 2ND LEVEL CONNECTIONS.  The icon to the right indicates the desired connection is only one contact distant from you.  LinkedIn has a built-in system for requesting an introduction (Get Introduced Through a Connection) but I do not recommend you use it.   I recommend sending your contact a personalized email or preferably, calling them with a request for an introduction.  The LinkedIn system is impersonal.    
   4. 3RD LEVEL CONNECTIONS The graphic to the left indicates the desired connection is two contacts distant from you.   This is a bit trickier.   Let’s say you want to reach Cool Dude and, according to LinkedIn, Awesome Dudette knows Cool Dude.  LinkedIn will tell you who your connector is but will not tell you who Awesome Dudette’s connection is.  In this situation I recommend sending an email to Awesome Dudette, asking your her to check LinkedIn to determine whom her connector is and if she thinks that person would be amenable to a request for an introduction.  If she think yes, then you can use the LinkedIn system to request the intro or use email to make the request.  If no, search for another contact to reach Cool Dude.  If you use email to make the request, be sure to include your LinkedIn profile url in the email in case that person forwards your request.  My Story: While working for Grassroots.org I wanted to talk with a specific foundation.  I checked LinkedIn and found that I had a third level connection through one of my contacts.  I emailed him asking if this person would respond favorably to a request for a connection.  My contact responded that he thought he could do one better than that and did an email introduction directly to the foundation.  Superb.  That is how social netowrking works!
4. If you are in sales and continually searching for warm leads, monitor the new connections of your contacts.  They can be found on your LinkedIn Home.  This is assuming you have already perused your connection's current contacts for potential leads.

As I work with folks to develop social networking strategies I have learned not to provide too much info at one time.  I have learned the value of avoiding overload.  So, try out these strategies and check back tomorrow for LinkedIn for the Beginner, Part 3.